Angels looking to add to (short) list of impactful minor leaguers acquired in deals

For most of the past couple of decades, the Angels have either been buyers or reluctant to sell their most valuable players, so they haven’t acquired many minor leaguers who went on to successful careers.

ANAHEIM — As the Angels head toward Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline, they will continue to look for something that has been rare in their franchise history.

When the Angels traded closer Carlos Estévez to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri on Saturday, they added a couple of pitchers they hope will soon provide some impact in the majors.

For a variety of reasons – from the organization’s history of success to the general philosophy of holding their most valuable assets in the down years – the Angels have not acquired many minor leaguers who became key major leaguers.

Scrolling through the list of the most productive players in Angels history, almost all of them were either homegrown (Jim Fregosi, Tim Salmon, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, etc.) or they were acquired after they were major leaguers (Nolan Ryan, Vladimir Guerrero, etc.).

You have to dig a little bit to find significant pieces of Angels history who were originally signed by another team, but were rookies with the Angels.

Before we get into the list, why is it so thin?

For starters, the type of trades that are so common now – an established major leaguer for multiple prospects – weren’t as plentiful through the first decades of the Angels’ history. When salaries were lower, teams did not feel as much pressure to unload expensive players for cheaper ones during losing seasons.

As it became more of a standard practice for teams to separate themselves as “buyers” and “sellers” in the 21st century, the Angels were usually successful, so they were buying.

Then over the last decade, when the Angels weren’t winning, they typically refused to part with their most attractive players – like Ohtani last year. By mostly trading away impending free agents or other pedestrian players, the Angels were generally unable to get back top prospects.

Still, they have unearthed a handful of useful players.

1. Utility man Chone Figgins. It certainly didn’t generate big headlines when the Angels sent journeyman outfielder Kimera Bartee to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Figgins on July 13, 2001. Neither player was even in the majors at the time of the deal. Figgins, however, played eight years with the Angels, earning MVP votes in four seasons and making one All-Star team. The speedy, versatile Figgins was a fixture during the Angels’ glory years, when they routinely made the postseason. The 22.4 WAR he produced with the Angels, according to Baseball-Reference, is the most for any player who was originally signed by another team but made his debut with the Angels.

2. Second baseman Adam Kennedy. The Angels shipped Gold Glove outfielder Jim Edmonds to the St. Louis Cardinals on March 23, 2000, getting back Kennedy and pitcher Kent Bottenfield. Kennedy had a cup of coffee with the Cardinals in 1999, but he became the Angels’ everyday second baseman for the next several years. He was the MVP of the 2002 American League Championship Series after hitting three home runs in the Game 5 clincher, a step on the way to the World Series title.

3. Infielder Maicer Izturis. The Angels traded outfielder José Guillen to the Montreal Expos on Nov. 19, 2004, getting back Izturis and Juan Rivera. Izturis spent eight years with the Angels, moving around the diamond and contributing to their playoff teams in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

4. Left-hander Andrew Heaney. At the 2014 Winter Meetings, the Dodgers were in the middle of a three-way deal with the Angels and Miami Marlins. The Dodgers got Heaney from the Marlins, and then flipped him to the Angels immediately for second baseman Howie Kendrick. Heaney’s 6.7 WAR with the Angels, over parts of seven seasons, is the highest for any pitcher who was a rookie with the Angels after starting in another organization.

5. Infielder Luis Rengifo. When Ohtani arrived in 2018, the Angels had a logjam at first base and DH with Ohtani, Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron. They alleviated that by trading Cron to the Tampa Bay Rays for Rengifo. It took Rengifo a few years to find his footing in the big leagues, but lately he’s become such a productive player that he’s now a valuable trade chip.

6. Left-hander Patrick Sandoval. Of all the players on this list, Sandoval is the only one who is the product of the typical July buyer/seller move that we’re all watching this week. On July 26, 2018, the Angels sent catcher Martin Maldonado, who was set to be a free agent in two months, to the Houston Astros in exchange for Sandoval. Sandoval was not considered a top prospect at the time, but he’s become a fixture in the Angels’ rotation, starting 100 games. Although he seemed to be taking his career to a new level in 2021 and 2022, he hasn’t performed as well in the past two seasons. Now he’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

7. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe. It’s too early to know for sure, but O’Hoppe certainly looks like he could be at the top of this list before his career is over. The Angels didn’t get O’Hoppe in a true buyer/seller deal, because the Angels sent the Phillies another young player, outfielder Brandon Marsh on Aug. 2, 2022. It was a pure baseball deal, in which money wasn’t a factor. Marsh was blocked by Trout and O’Hoppe was blocked by J.T. Realmuto, so the teams made a deal that, so far, looks like it’s working for both.